Hasta La Gadget!

As editor of both Technabob and The Awesomer, the number of submissions I get for “unique,” minimal, RFID-blocking wallets over on Kickstarter has gotten ridiculous. But just when I thought I’d never post another wallet again, Popov Leather has made me once again believe in humanity.

Sure, it won’t hold your iPhone, or prevent your RFID chips from being hacked, but this wallet has a hand-tooled image of R2-D2 on the front. How could you not want one? And just like an actual droid, it’s made from high quality 4oz. cowhide, lined with 30z. calfskin and card pockets made from 20z. pigskin. Ok, I made that part up about droids being made from leather.

Each wallet is handmade, so it’ll take a couple of weeks to get yours. So bleep-bloop on over to Etsy and order yours now, before the Jawas come along and take them all so they can sell them out of the back of a sandcrawler.

This probably isn’t the first multi-tasking belt buckle you’ve seen, and I’m pretty certain it won’t be your last, either. Remember the belt buckle knife and the Etch-a-Sketch belt buckle?

While the Smart Belt Buckle won’t provide you with extra protection or a few minutes of fun and entertainment, it will give you some extra storage space for your credit cards and IDs.

It’s called smart for a reason. The biggest pain when you lose you wallet is having to phone the bank to cancel all your credit and debit cards. Then there’s the matter of having to file for lost IDs and waiting weeks or even months to get a new one, whether it’s for work or for your gym membership.

With this buckle around your waist, you’ll still have the essential stuff with you – even if you lose your wallet.

The Smart Buckle Belt can be personalized with your name or initials on the front, and it’s pretty light as it weighs in at only seven ounces. It’s available in three different finishes, Gun Metal, Brushed Metal and Titanium, and is available for $39.95(USD) on Amazon.

[via Gadget Review]

While it’s always fun to buy things, it’s not always fun that you have to deplete your funds to make it so. These new wallets serve as a not-so-subtle reminder to think about how you’re spending your precious cash every time you open them up.

Each of the Sonic Wallets offer a variety of unique sound effects to accompany the imagery on its outside. For instance, the Edvard Munch-inspired “The Scream” wallet lets out a horrible variety of blood-curdling screams whenever you open it to take out your cash or credit cards:

There are a total of eight designs available, including an American flag, baseball, Buddha, drum machine, Jesus, Moolah the Cow, and my personal favorite, the Shakespearean insult wallet:

Though I’m not sure if the wallet is tossing barbs like “You are a tedious fool” and “Out of my sight, though dost infect my eyes!” at the snot-nosed punk cashier or at the owner of the wallet.

Each wallet is made from durable Dupont Tyvek, and sells for $19.95(USD). Check out all of the different designs and sounds over at Gadgets & Gear.

Sure, these could get annoying after a while, but maybe that’ll teach you to spend less money – or the battery will eventually die (after a few thousand uses.)

One of my biggest pet peeves is having lots of stuff in my pockets when I am out and about working or playing. I’ve tried a lot of different phone cases over the years that promise to hold the contents of my wallet and my phone, but always gave up on them. The reason I stop using them is that the smartphone cases typically just didn’t hold enough stuff and I still had other items jangling around in my pockets anyhow.

A case has surfaced on indiegogo that is designed to hold and protect your iPhone 4 or 5 and keep all sorts of other stuff inside as well. The Cavity Case is supposed to hold three keys the size of a typical house key or smaller, an average size car key, a remote control for your keyless entry system, and a telescoping pen.

That compartment is designed to hold the remote for your keyless entry system also allows you to use that remote without having to remove it from the case. That particular compartment can also be used to store other items such as flash drives, a cigarette lighter or custom round containers which can hold contact lenses or other small items. A pledge of $39(USD) will get you the case and the round containers, while $49 adds on the telescoping pen, and a leather wrist strap.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Mastercard is already a big fish in the still tiny NFC contactless payment pond, and now it wants to take that same technology to a veritable ocean — internet sales. The plastic purveyor is tag-teaming with ING in the Netherlands for PayPass-based smartphone internet payments that would have a “comparable level of security” to bricks and mortar purchases — by transmitting an EMV-compliant cryptogram or QR code to merchants. That would theoretically make online shopping less risky, and the system would also allow coupons and vouchers to be applied, giving a “similar user experience in both the physical and digital world.” The Dutch trial has already started and will continue until early 2013, but there’s no word if new users can still jump in — check the PR after the break to read the tea leaves for yourself.

Continue reading Mastercard previewing smartphone web payment system with in-person security strength

Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Internet, Mobile

Mastercard previewing smartphone web payment system with in-person security strength originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 07 Nov 2012 10:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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